Orlando – You can now refer to the Robbinsville Lady Knights as “KSA Tournament Champions.”
Robbinsville (5-1) knocked off a trio of teams from Oklahoma, Louisiana and Pennsylvania to win the orange bracket of the 2019 KSA Events Holiday Basketball tournament, with the clinching victory coming Monday afternoon.
“I’m still trying to settle down,” head coach Lucas Ford said after the tournament concluded. “It was crazy. (The tournament final) was a wild game. “This was a great, four-day tournament for us. We saw some things that really challenged us.”
The team traveled to Orlando on Dec. 26 and enjoyed the fun of such places as Disney World and Sea World during the week-long trip, helping Robbinsville bond and put the bitter taste of a 66-60, conference-opening overtime loss at Hayesville on Dec. 20 in the rearview mirror.
“The idea for this week was to come down here and the girls develop a bond; make some memories that will last them a lifetime,” Ford explained. “I think we were pretty successful with that. We’re really young and the only remedy for that is game experience against good competition.
“After the Hayesville game, we were all very disappointed in ourselves. That game was not who we want to be or who we’re going to be. We felt like we could pull out a win, but kudos to Hayesville; they made some plays down the stretch and we didn’t. It’s a learning experience; you’ve got to show up and play every night.”
The Lady Knights were paired initially with Rejoice Christian School (Owasso, Okla.) in the opening round Friday, a game Robbinsville won 62-48.
Leading the charge was Cambrie Lovin, who scored 17 points in the game. Others to score were Desta Trammell 15, Gabby Hooper 9, Yeika Jimenez 8, Karlyn Matheson 3, Kennedy Cable 3, Halee Anderson 2, Kensley Phillips 2 and Lina Pagan 1.
Robbinsville then took care of St. Thomas More (Lafayette, La.) in the semifinals Saturday, picking up a 63-58 victory.
Trammell dropped a team-high 23 points in the victory, while Lovin posted 21. Also scoring was Cable 6, Jimenez 5, Hooper 2, Anderson 2, Matheson 2 and Barlow 2.
The tournament-clinching game lined up the Knights with Exeter Township, Pa. The Knights only scored 12 points in the second half, but held on to win, 46-43.
Lovin scored 15 points for the Lady Knights, Also scoring was Trammell 14, Hooper 9, Jimenez 6 and Cable 2.